Travis Hunter is a very deserved Heisman favorite. But his chances may be too high with three weeks left in the 2024 regular season.
The Colorado defensive back has the lowest odds of anyone ahead of the Buffaloes’ game against Utah on Saturday. Hunter has an equal amount of money to win the prize, and his odds are significantly better than those of fellow favorites Dillon Gabriel (+350), Ashton Jeanty (+400) and Cam Ward (+850).
As these four players separated themselves from the rest of the field in the second half of the season, they take turns at the top of the odds board. Jeanty emerged as the favorite in the first half before power conference players moved ahead of him. Ward’s odds were significantly lower a week ago before his Miami Hurricanes lost their first game of the season at Georgia Tech in Week 11.
By now you know that Hunter is the only player in college football who plays almost every snap on both sides of the ball. What he is doing is virtually unprecedented in modern college football. But it’s the wrong time to bet on Hunter unless you’re really convinced no one else is going to win the Heisman.
Hunter remains Colorado’s leading receiver with 69 catches for 856 yards and nine touchdowns. He has caught over a third of Shedeur Sanders’ TD passes this season. He also has seven passes defensed and two interceptions.
His defensive numbers are also back to the level of the first half of the season. After playing just 30 defensive snaps against Kansas State and Arizona due to a shoulder injury suffered in the first half against KSU, Hunter played 62 defensive snaps against Cincinnati and a season-high 85 in the Buffs’ Week 11 win over Texas Tech. As long as Hunter continues to play almost every snap and Colorado continues to win, he is guaranteed to be in New York as a Heisman finalist.
However, there is still an opportunity for others to pass him. If Colorado makes it to the Big 12 title game, the Buffaloes will have four more games before Heisman voting closes. But Gabriel and Ward are set for three more matches, and Jeanty probably has four more of her own. That’s almost a third of the season. And as we saw earlier, voters can demonstrate a recency bias. A strong boost from one of the favorites could be enough for the price.
Here are the other players to keep an eye on as you enter Week 12.
Oregon QB Dillon Gabriel: The Ducks are 10-0 and off this weekend. But Gabriel is on the list because he is the No. 2 favorite and just set the FBS record for most career touchdowns in Oregon’s win over Maryland in Week 11. Yes, Gabriel has played three more games than Case Keenum , the man who previously held the title. record, but there are some voters who will likely take Gabriel’s status atop the FBS record books into account at the end of the season.
Boise State RB Ashton Jeanty: The junior “lost weight” in the second half of the season. Notice our use of quotation marks there. Jeanty rushed 34 times for 209 yards and three scores in Boise State’s 28-21 win over Nevada in Week 11. That’s an average of 6.1 yards per carry. Anytime a running back averages more than six yards per carry, he’s had a really good game. And yet, Jeanty’s YPC against the Wolf Pack ranks seventh out of his nine games this season. That’s how great he was in 2024.
Miami QB Cam District: It always felt like Miami was playing with fire and needed Ward to save the team in the second half so many times this season. Sure enough, the Hurricanes got burned. Georgia Tech’s defense performed well on third downs and Miami’s defense was run over by the Yellow Jackets’ run game. Like Oregon, Miami is off in Week 12, before two games in which the Hurricanes will be favored to score a lot of points.
Alabama QB Jalen Milroe: Don’t leave Milroe out of the Heisman conversation completely just yet. His odds are now +1800 and sixth-best in college football after Alabama’s big win over LSU. He should add to his lofty stats Saturday against Mercer before sitting out the second half, if the first two quarters go anything like how we think they will. A big primetime appearance in Week 13 at Oklahoma could boost Milroe’s chances even further.
